Nonskid rubber traction member



Jan. 30, 1951 D. E. cRooKER NONSKID RUBBER TRACTION MEMBER Filed oct. 1, 194s INVENTOR. @VQ/5% BY AOENE/Sf Patented Jan. 30, 1951 `UNITED STATES PATENT orrxce Y 2254641445 NoN-'snip RUBBER 'raAc'rioN MEMBER nava E.. creeren, onwmgor, Mah-assigner of' one-half to Lloyd L Follies Marshfield, Wisf Application October 1, 1948, Serial No. 52,199

(Cl. .K2-ful.)

y6 lairns, l

This invention relates toVv improvements in nonskid rubber traction members, and more part-icularly but not exclusively to vehicle tires.

In the development of non-skid automobile tires, one of the types found to give Afavorable results is that shown in my prior application, Serial No. 9,276, filed on February 13, 1948 wherein are disclosed coils of wire having an irregular cross sectional shape molded longitudinally into the rider strips thereof.

In a tire of the type above referred to the road gripping action of the coils of -Wire is restricted to the substantially straight path which each coil traverses in the road bed over which the tire runs. This is obviously a relatively small percentage of the total area of Ithe roadbed eentacted by the tire as it travels thereover.

It is therefore a general object of the invention to provide a non-skid ltire tread having substantially uniform road gripping qualities over the entire road contacting surface area thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide a `non-skid tire tread combiningl the road gripping features of a cup-'type tread `with the road gripping features of a tire tread having a Wire Y coil embedded therein.

A lfurther object of the invention is to provide a `non--sk-id tire tread of the class described have Ving a substantially smooth road contacting surface and having coils of wire embedded therein 4in wavy longitudinal lines, thereby providing substantially uniform road gripping action over the ent-ire width of the tire tread.

A further object of the 4invention is to provide a non-skid tire tread of the class described wherein each of the cups or recesses formed yin the tread surface thereof exposes a side portion of at least one of the Wire coils imbedded in said tread, thereby providing means for the dissipation of heat from the interior of the tread through said coils and out of said cups or recesses.

A further object of the invention is to provide a non-skid tire of the class described which may be made either with or without transverse venti.- lating passages communicating with the 4inner ends of cup-shaped recesses.

With the above and other objects in View, the invention consists of the improved non-,skid tire tread, and all o f its parts and combinations, .as set forth in the-claims, and all equivalents there, 0f.

In the drawing vaccomparlvillg and 1orrni-ng a part v,of this specication, wherein are shown two .,enllooaliments of thefinyention; .and-wherein-like and may have a .Smooth road ooriaotos surface I2.

Formed in the tread surface I2 is a plurality puf recesses I1,3 which may be cup-shaped or any other suitable shape. The recesses I3 are proff .er-ably arranged in transversely extending obligue rows asv indicated by the lino .2-2 of Fia It- Ihere are preferably five recesses to each'row and the recesses of adjacent rows are preferably laterally staggered as shown in Fig. 1. The rows of recesses Iii are preferably substantially par? allel.

Imbedded in the tread II with a side portion thereoi iiush with surface I2 and .extending 1longitudinally in a snbstanti-ally straight line ad:-

4jacent each'vedge of the tread I2 are wire coils Hl. Also imbedded in the tread IIi with 4a `side portion thereof flush with the. Sliriaoo I2 are ,a plurality of wire coils- I5 which extend longituld inally vof the tread Il a wavy conformation. The number of the vcoils I5 is preferably the same as the rumba of recesses L3 in .oooh row y--irl this oase vo- It will bo noted ,from .Fis- 1 ,that the coils `I5 are threaded in Ya laterally ,waved longitudinal path around opposite .sides oi cor? responding recesses of adjacent rows. For es? ample, in Fig. l the extreme left hand coil 'I5 is imbedded in a ,to nass fthe :left side of the extremo left hand recess of one transverse Yrow and 011th right siol of the extreme lett hand recess of. thanert adiaoentr Tbelatel'ofl Staggering of adjacent rrows por; his .this to no done wit-hout too great deformation of the coils I5 out of astraieht longitudinal lino.

As each of the coils :I5 rassesftne recess. which it COQpelaeS, a Side rpOltion :or said .coil :be: comes fiush with the side wall of the recess and thereby becomesexposed in the Asame-manner as the coils are exposed lon the lsu-r-fac-:e I-2. Fig. 2 shows-each of the coils 45 as being flush with the side wall of one of the recesses I3; as well as being flush with the surface I2.

By having the recesses I3 equally spaced in their rows, and by havingsaid rows parallel and uniformly laterally staggered, the coils I are thereby substantially equally spaced and are substantially parallel even though curved. The wavy conformation of the coils I5 gives a much wider area in which the coils operate in augmenting the traction of the tire by penetration into the roadbed. In the type of tire having a wire coil imbedded in each rider strip thereof, the tractive effort of the coils is limited to one straight path for each coil, said path having a width substantially equal to that of the coil. In the improved tire, the wavy conformation of the coils I5 makes possible substantially uniformly effective tractive effort over the entire width of the rtread surface I2, and there is no restriction of the tractive effort to a few relatively narrow paths.

Since metal is a relatively good conductor of heat and since rubber is not, the wire coils imbedded in the improved tire conduct heat from the interior of the tread II to the surface I2 where it is dissipated. In addition to the heat dissipated by the coils at the surface I2, the construction of the improved tire provides for dissipation of heat by the coils at the sidewalls of the recesses where portions of the coils are exposed. This provides for a greatly increased rate of cooling and thereby enables the tire to be run at lower temperatures than conventional tires.

The improved tread construction may embody transverse Ventilating passages I6, as shown in Fig. 3. This construction is in accordance with the disclosure in my copending application Serial No. 46,909. In this construction the inner ends of the recesses I3 communicate with the transverse passages IB which underlie the surface I2 and which underlie the coils Il and I5 and which are alined with the rows of recesses I3. This construction not only has the added advantages which are inherent in the construction of the abovementioned application, but also provides for additional dissipation of heat from the coils I4 and I5 through the passages I6, since said coils have a side portion exposed at each of the passages I6.

While cup-shaped recesses I3 are shown in the preferred embodiment, any desired shape of recess may be used. It is also within the concept of this invention to provide a tire having coils irnbedded therein as shown but without recesses in the tread surface I3 thereof. The improved nonskid tread may obviously be employed in applications other than the vehicle tires.

Various other changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and all of such changes are contemplated as may come within the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. In a traction member having a rubber tread portion with a plurality of recesses formed in the surface thereof, at least two spaced metal coils extending longitudinally within said tread portion in a transversely waved conformation around and between said recesses, adjacent coils being positioned with a plurality of said recesses therebetween, and one side portion of each of said coils being substantially flush with the tread surface.

2. In a tire having a rubber tread portion with a plurality of recesses formed in the wearing surface thereof, said recesses being arranged in transversely extending rows, a plurality of spaced substantially parallel metal coils extending longitudinally Within said tread portion in a transversely waved conformation around and between said recesses, adjacent coils being positioned with a plurality of said recesses therebetween, one side portion of each of said coils being substantially flush with said wearing surface and each of said recesses having a side portion of a coil flush with a sidewall portion thereof.

3. In a tire having a rubber tread portion with a plurality of recesses formed in the wearing surface thereof, said recesses being arranged with an equal number thereof in each of a plurality of transversely extending rows, the recesses of adjacent rows being laterally staggered, a plurality of spaced substantially parallel metal coils extending longitudinally within said tread portion in a transversely waved conformation around and between said recesses, adjacent coils being positioned with a plurality of said recesses therebetween, one side of each of said coils being substantially flush with said wearing surface, and each of said recesses having a side portion of a coil flush with a sidewall portion thereof.

4. In a tire having a rubber tread portion with a plurality of recesses formed in the wearing surface thereof, said recesses being arranged with an equal number thereof in each of a plurality of transversely extending rows, the recesses of adjacent rows being transversely staggered, a plurality of spaced metal coils extending longitudinally within said tread portion in a transversely waved conformation around and between said recesses, adjacent coils being positioned with a plurality of said recesses therebetween; there being the same number of said coils as there are recesses in each of the rows, a side portion of each of said coils being substantially ush with said wearing surface, and each of said coils having side portions flush with opposite sidewall portions of corresponding recesses of adjacent rows.

5. In a tire having a rubber tread portion with a plurality of recesses formed in the wearing surface thereof, said recesses being arranged with an equal number thereof in each of a plurality af substantially parallel, transversely extending oblique rows, the recesses of adjacent rows being transversely staggered, a plurality of spaced metal coils extending longitudinally within said tread portion in a transversely waved conformation around and between said recesses, adjacent coils being positioned with a plurality of said recesses therebetween, there being the same number of said coils as there are recesses in each of the rows, a side portion of each of said coils being substantially ush with said wearing surface, and each of said coils having side portions flush with opposite sidewall portions of corresponding recesses of adjacent rows.

6. In a tire having a rubber tread portion with a plurality of recesses formed in the wearing surface thereof, said recesses being arranged with an equal number thereof in each of a plurality of substantially parallel transversely extending oblique rows, the recesses of adjacent rows being transversely staggered, a metal coil extending longitudinally within said tread portion adjacent each edge thereof and having a side portion thereof flush with said wearing surface and a plurality of metal coils extending longitudinally within said tread portion in a transversely waved conformation around and between said recesses, adjacent coils being positioned with a plurality of said recesses therebetween, there being the same number of said waved coils as there are recesses in each of the rows, a' side portion of each of said waved coils being substantially ush with said wearing surface, and each of said waved coils having side portions ush with opposite 5 sidewalls portions of corresponding recesses of adjacent rows.

DAVID E. CROOKER.

6 REFERENCES CITED The followingr references are of record in the ile of this patent:

Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Comly June 27, 1899 Midgley Nov. 2, 1915 Yamaki June 25, 1935 Hewel Mar. 11, 1941 Work et al. Apr. 22, 1941 

